Christopher Kincaid's Blog, page 32

What Does Tsundoku Mean?

I love books and suffer from a mild case of tsundoku. Tsundoku is the Japanese word for the tendency to buy books and not read them. My books clump together in great piles that mock me for not reading them fast enough. Of course, I come home from the library with books that I have…

The Loyal, Bear-Hunting Akita

Most cultures have their own breeds of dogs. Dogs have provided us with companionship, protection, and help for thousands of years. Dogs were brought to the islands of Japan from China around 660 BC. But the Akita breed didn’t appear in documents until the early 17th century. A nobleman exiled to Akita Prefecture encouraged people…

Weekend Afternoons with NHK Japan

I grew up on a steady diet of PBS. I’m sad to say that Sesame Street wasn’t a part of my childhood. My PBS time consisted of shows like Sewing with Nancy, This Old House, Antique Roadshow, and The Joy of Painting and whatever watercolor series followed it. My parents watched the former shows. Bob…

The Teen Brain and Anime’s Appeal

Teen brains sit on an important stage of brain development. Adolescence isn’t just a cultural construct; it’s a period of drastic rewiring. I will be using Robert Sapolsky’s book Behave (2017) for the following facts. Remember too that research focuses on averages. At the start of adolescence, teens have more gray matter than adults. Gray…

To Understand Japanese History, Study China

One aspect of Japanology I’ve neglected so far is the role of China. I’ve only touched on it here and there throughout JP’s articles. But if you are serious about studying Japanese culture, you must also study Chinese culture. China has influenced most of the nations and cultures surrounding it. You find elements of Chinese…

Daikoku and the Oni

A long while ago, when the idols of Buddha and his host of disciples came to Japan, after traveling through China from India, they were very much vexed because the people still liked the little black fellow named Daikoku. Even when they became Buddhists they still burned incense to Daikoku, because he was the patron…

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Eating Your Own Tail: Self-Publishing Websites

Are you interested in publishing your own book? Many anime bloggers aspire toward it, but when you start researching, it seems books about self publishing dominate self publishing. Self-publishing websites all parrot each other. They all sell their own books full of secrets and tips. While there’s nothing wrong with this, you have to wonder…

What Does Neckbeard Mean?

Neckbeard (and the lesser-used Legbeard) is a label used online across many different communities, including the otaku community. Academia tends to ignore terms like weeaboo and waifu and neckbeard, at least as I write this article. So I visit the best source of information for an Internet term: the Internet. This article will also have…

What is Cringe?

Cringe has become a popular word online. But do we know what cringe really is? Cringe remains closely related to awkward. Awkward is a catchall word for any situation that makes us feel uneasy, no matter how serious or trivial the situation is. After all, most of what we find online is ultimately trivial. Cringe…